Overtraining: The Disease of More

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2 Aug 2016 - General

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The millennial generation are used to instant results. We produce outcomes in fast rates that were never seen before. Probably, we have been too focused on achieving things quickly that we have seemingly forgotten the virtue of patience.

Patience is required for great things to occur. Training our bodies to lose weight, bulk up, or improve athletic performance requires tremendous effort and patience. However, we have become so used to instant success that we exercise too hard at the expense of rest and recovery. Lack of rest inhibits the muscles to build and repair and the cardiovascular system to rest. This leads to overtraining fatigue syndrome.

What is overtraining fatigue syndrome?

Overtraining training fatigue syndrome is a constellation of symptoms due to excessive physical exertion followed by inadequate rest that may include physiologic and psychological changes. Usually, it is composed of premature fatigability, decline in athletic or workout performance for 2 weeks, emotional and mood changes, motivation difficulties, and overuse injuries such as tendinitis. Elevated resting heart rate, especially an increase of 10 beats per minute in the early morning, signifies overtraining. Fortunately, this syndrome is easily reversible.

How to reverse overtraining syndrome

If you are experiencing the aforementioned symptoms, you should stop strenuous activity for one week by all means. You may feel some guilt initially but always remember that this temporary exercise hiatus will improve your health. After one week, ease your way lightly into a workout routine by starting with low intensity exercises. For example, it is prudent to start with walking for 30 minutes first if you used to run for 45 minutes a day. Gradually work your back into jogging before incorporating running exercises. Overtraining fatigue syndrome simply is a disease of strenuous activity more than what is typically required. Rest and recovery for 48 hours after a very hard workout will do wonders for your body in the long run and prevent this syndrome.

Ziwei Xie : Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds like you had a previous experience of overtraining fatigue syndrome. I am amazed with your discipline with your exercise regimen. Running at your pace of 9km/hour 5x a week is no small feat. I agree with you that exercise helps with feeling good especially post workout with the release of endorphins. Also, it keeps us mentally sharp due to increase oxyg...

Marinelle Castro If you are asking about resistance training, the recommendation is no more than 3 hours per week. As for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or crossfit, I believe that it should only be done once a day because of its impact on the joints. Doing HIIT 2x a day may be counterproductive as there is no ample time for recovery. As for your question regarding muscle soreness, it is safe to do exerc...

Marinelle Castro. Doing 30-45 minute of workout sounds good. I jog at 9km per hour for 30 minutes 5 times a week. It is just nice for me. Neither do I feel fatigue nor myalgia. The next morning I will feel really fresh. Exercise does not tired a person but increase vigilance. However, over exercise does produce very negative impact. There were times I pushed myself too hard and I get generalized myalgia, low grad...

Mark Edmon Tan Just a question, would you know what is the average exercise threshold for Asians in terms of moderate or high intensity exercises? What about interval training? I'm asking this because I am considering doing workouts 30-45 mins twice a day instead of doing it 60-90 mins at once. Also, whenever I have muscle soreness, I still work out but I focus on different muscle groups. I'm not sure if ...

This post is very timely in a sense that after maternity and more than a year of not doing any exercise, I am considering going back to running and I used to run/jog for more than 30 minutes to one hour. This is a good reminder for me to take it slow and as mentioned in the post, "be patient". I am sure my body would be happy if I start with brisk walking then eventually get back to running again so it won't be as shocked from my non exercise state for more than a year. Definitely,...